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CHUMASH
Parshas Chukas - Sheini with Rashi
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Today we learn the ashes of the Parah Adumah were used, and what happened when Miram passed away.
After the ashes of the Parah Adumah were mixed with water (like we learned yesterday), a person who is tahor takes a branch called an Eizov, and dips it into the water mixed with the ashes. He sprinkles this water on the people who are tomei — and also on anything else that became tomei from a person who passed away.
Like we learned before, we sprinkle on the 3rd day and 7th day from when they start trying to become tahor. Then the person who is tomei goes to the Mikvah, and he becomes tahor at night!
But if anyone who is NOT tomei touches this water, he BECOMES tomei — but only for that day, until he goes to the mikvah and waits until nighttime. If he carries enough of this water to sprinkle on someone else, his clothes ALSO become tomei until they are dipped in the mikvah and he waits until night!
This is part of why the mitzvah of Parah Adumah is a chok, a type of mitzvah that we can’t understand: It can make people tahor from the strongest type of tumah, Tumas Meis, but it makes a person tomei when they help with it!
We also learn that if someone touches someone else who has Tumas Meis, he becomes tomei too — but not Tumas Meis. He doesn’t need the ashes of the Parah Adumah sprinkled on him — he only needs to go to the mikvah and wait until nighttime.
Rashi explains that the Parah Adumah helps the Yidden also do Teshuvah for the Cheit HaEgel. He explains how different details of this mitzvah are related to the aveira of the Egel and are a kaparah for what happened.
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Now the Torah tells us that Miriam passed away, on Yud Nissan, the year before the Yidden went into Eretz Yisroel.
Once Miriam passed away, the well that used to stay with the Yidden in her zechus went away too, and the Yidden complained. Moshe and Aharon davened to Hashem to give the Yidden water.
We see from here how Moshe Rabbeinu took care of everything the Yidden needed. As long as the water was there in the zechus of Miriam, Moshe didn’t need to do anything about it. But once it went away, Moshe Rabbeinu made sure that it came back for the Yidden. We will see later in the Chumash that the same thing happened with the clouds that were in the zechus of Aharon — after Aharon was nistalek, the clouds went away. But Moshe Rabbeinu brought them back to make sure that the Yidden were taken care of.
The same is true of the Moshe Rabbeinu and the Rebbe of every dor: The Rebbe makes sure that everything that the Yidden need is taken care of.
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Today’s kapitelach are Chof-Gimmel until Chof-Ches.
In today’s Tehillim, we have a kapitel that is the Shir Shel Yom of every Sunday, Yom Rishon! This kapitel (Kapitel Chof-Daled) was sung in the Beis Hamikdash on the first day of the week.
Some of the pesukim in this Kapitel talk about the time when Shlomo Hamelech went to bring the Aron into the Kodesh Hakodoshim in the Beis Hamikdash. He asked the gates to open up, “Se’u She’arim Rosheichem!”
The Gemara (in Mesechta Shabbos) tells us the story behind this:
After Shlomo Hamelech finished building the Beis Hamikdash, he wanted to finally bring the Aron into its proper home! But when he came to the Kodesh Hakodoshim, the gates stayed tightly closed and he wasn’t able to bring it inside!
Shlomo Hamelech said 24 praises to Hashem, but the gates didn’t move.
So Shlomo Hamelech started to say the words of this kapitel, asking that the gates should open: “Se’u She’arim Rosheichem Vehinas’u Pischei Olam, Veyavo Melech Hakavod!” “Gates, open up, so the King of glory can come in!”
When he said these words, the gates of the Kodesh Hakodoshim got very angry, and they wanted to swallow him up! They thought that Shlomo Hamelech was talking about himself, saying that the gates should open so HE could come in!
But first, they asked him: “Who is the Melech Hakavod, the King of glory?” Shlomo Hamelech answered with the next words, “Hashem Izuz Vegibor,” “Hashem Who is strong and mighty.”
Again, Shlomo Hamelech asked the gates to open, so that the Melech Hakavod, Hashem, could come inside. But the gates still stayed tightly shut.
Finally, Shlomo Hamelech asked the gates to open in the zechus of Dovid Hamelech, saying a posuk from Divrei Hayomim: “Hashem Elokim, Al Tosheiv Pnei Meshichecha” — Hashem, do not turn away the face of the one You annointed, “Zachra Lechasdei Dovid Avdecha” — Remember the kindness of Dovid your servant.
When he said that, the doors immediately opened up and he was able to bring the Aron into the Kodesh Hakodoshim.
The Gemara says that this is what Shlomo Hamelech was talking about in his Sefer Koheles, when he said, “Meshabeiach Ani Es Hameisim Shekvar Meisu.” “I praise those who have passed away — even more than those who are still alive.” (We say this posuk in the Maaneh Lashon.) Tzadikim, even after they pass away, have a greater zechus than people who are still alive! As we saw in this story, the Beis Hamikdash was only able to be used in the zechus of Dovid Hamelech, even though he had already passed away.
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TANYA
Shaar Hayichud Veha'emunah Perek Yud-Alef
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The creation of the world is through the letters in the Asara Maamaros, and these letters are one with Hashem.
Hashem gives us the holiest language, Lashon Hakodesh. Hashem gave us 22 letters to say all the words in this holy language. Each of them have a special way they sound when we say them, and a way they look when we write them. They help us say what we think or feel in our sechel and midos.
Hashem also uses these special letters to show His sechel and midos, and to make the world! The different ways the letters look and sound shows us how each thing Hashem made is in a different way.
Even though the letters of Hashem are lower than the rest of the Sefiros, they are still higher than anything that was created, because everything is created FROM them. They are even higher than the sechel of Adam Harishon, whose neshama had the neshamos of all of the tzadikim in it — which are even higher than all of the malochim!
Even something so high was created through these letters of Hashem, so we understand that they must be higher than them, a very high level which is meyuchad and one with Hashem.
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In today’s Hayom Yom we learn about the amazing kochos we are given in our shlichus!
If a Chossid puts all of his kochos into doing his shlichus, Hashem gives him amazing hatzlacha!
Even if it’s a very big city, which needs extra-special kochos, Hashem helps him in the zechus of the holy Avos, so even one Shliach can change a whole city!
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WOW! We are starting to learn the Rambam again, from the beginning — for the 41st time!
Today in Sefer Hamitzvos, we don’t learn about any mitzvah yet! First we learn about WHY the Rambam wrote the Sefer Hamitzvos. The Rambam explains that this sefer shows us what the 613 mitzvos are.
Did you know that there are other Chachomim who count the 613 mitzvos in a different way than the Rambam?
In Sefer Hamitzvos, the Rambam first teaches us how the 613 mitzvos should be counted, so that later on in the sefer Mishnah Torah, where he explains all of the mitzvos, it will be clear what the mitzvos are.
The Rambam will show us 14 rules to figure out why something is counted as a mitzvah from the Torah. We will IY”H learn them over the next few days!
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In today’s Rambam, the Rambam explains why he made the sefer called Mishnah Torah.
The Rambam reviews the whole history of Torah — how it came from Moshe Rabbeinu on Har Sinai, and how it was taught and learned and passed down Baal Peh for 40 generations, until the time of the Mishnah (when R’ Yehudah Hakadosh saw it needed to be written down) and the time of the Gemara (when Ravina and R’ Ashi saw it would be forgotten if it wasn’t written down, because of the tzaros of Golus).
The Rambam saw that the Golus was so strong, there was another problem: The reason for the Mishnah and Gemara is so we know the halachos, how Hashem wants us to live. And even though it’s all written down, the Gemara has all of the discussion about these halachos, and they aren’t in order. So unless someone knows the whole Shas, they might not be able to find the halachos they will need to know!
So the Rambam says that he took the courage to do something important. He put together all of the halachos in order, written clearly, in an organized way without any questions and answers — so that EVERYONE (big Talmidei Chachomim and simple people too) can see and understand exactly what Hashem wants us to know and to do!
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How long is a person a Nazir for? It depends — he is allowed to decide how long he wants to be a Nazir for. But if he doesn’t say how long, he is a Nazir for 30 days.
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We will tell over a story that is well known, but it is one that has a very important hora’ah for us today!
A shliach once wanted to make a big peulah, to make a Kiddush Hashem for many people where he lived. He decided to make a concert one Sunday in a hall that could hold hundreds and hundreds of people!
On the Friday before the concert, there were only 87 people that said they were coming. On Shabbos, the shliach cried, and in his mind, asked the Rebbe to help him.
On Sunday, more than 1,000 people came to the peulah!
The shliach’s bubby was there, and she was so proud! She went into Yechidus the next day, and the Rebbe asked about the concert. She told the Rebbe how wonderful it was, and how many people were there. The Rebbe said, “and yesterday your grandson (the shliach) was so worried!”
The Rebbe hears everything we ask from him, even if we can’t see it! He answers us, helping us to do our shlichus and bring Moshiach closer.
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Usually, people translate the word Tefillah as “prayer.” Prayer means to ask for something that we need or want. Even though it is true that we do ask for things in davening, and we are doing a mitzvah by asking Hashem for the things we need, that’s not all that Tefillah means!
In Chumash and Mishnayos, we see that one meaning of the shoresh of the word Tefillah is to connect or join together. (For example, Rochel named Bilhah’s son Naftoli, to show that she was now joining Leah in having children.)
Even if we don’t have something that we need, we still need to daven to Hashem so that we will stay connected!
The neshama of a Yid always is connected to Hashem. But it can’t always feel it, since it is inside of a guf that is busy with Gashmius things like eating and drinking, working and playing.
So the Torah gives us special times during the day so that we can refresh our connection with Hashem! Those times are the tefillos we daven a few times throughout the day.
And that’s the main point of davening — to keep our hiskashrus with Hashem strong!
See Likutei Sichos Chelek Beis, p. 410
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The Arizal says that we should not say Tehillim at night.
Many poskim write that there are times that we are allowed to. For example, we can say Tehillim for a sick person at night, for a dangerous situation, or if we are afraid.
In a letter, the Rebbe writes that we still do not say the Tehillim of Chitas at night! We should say the shiur of Tehillim either before Tzeis Hakochavim or after Chatzos in the middle of the night.
The only times during the year when there is no problem with Tehillim at night are on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
See Piskei Teshuvos siman 238, and Shulchan Menachem siman 143
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לעילוי נשמת הרה״ח ר׳ דניאל יצחק ע״ה בן ר׳ אפרים שי׳ מאסקאוויץ
שליח כ"ק אדמו"ר נשיא דורנו למדינת אילינוי
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Water is a sign of bracha — but you need a container to hold it in!
The light of Geulah also needs a container to hold it in. That keili is Chassidus! When we spread Chassidus all over the world, we are making keilim to hold the light of the Geulah!
And as soon as the keilim are ready, Hashem will fill them up!
See Igros Kodesh chelek Alef, p. 216
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לע"נ התינוק זאב ארי' ע"ה בן יבלט"א הרה"ח ר' שניאור זלמן שי' גליק
נפטר ב' מנחם אב ה'תשע"ג
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